Solar cell maker Taiwan Solar Energy Corp (TSEC, 元晶) yesterday said it is boosting high-efficiency solar cell and solar module capacity in a bid to benefit from fast-growing demand, primarily in Taiwan.
TSEC is the latest in a slew of local solar companies unveiling new solar investment projects after the government said it aims to boost solar panel installation to an accumulated 20 gigawatts in 2025 to achieve its goal of boosting power supply from renewable energy sources to 20 percent of power generated, from just 4 percent.
That would represent a compound annual growth rate of 30 percent in solar demand in Taiwan, compared with accumulated solar panel installation of 980 megawatts as of August this year, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said.
“If the government can hit that target, we believe local suppliers of solar cells or solar chips will be able to allocate 20 to 25 percent of their output to the domestic market, up from only 3 percent,” TSEC chairman Ellick Liao (廖國榮) told investors yesterday.
CHINESE MARKET RISK
That would also help reduce local solar companies’ heavy reliance on the Chinese market and thereby minimize their operational risks, Liao said.
Taiwanese solar cell makers last quarter bore the brunt of China’s sagging demand, which triggered a deep price decline and significantly hurt their bottom lines, he said.
China is the largest export destination for local solar cell makers, accounting for 67 percent of total output, he added.
TSEC is one of two Taiwanese solar cell suppliers that still managed to eke out a profit in the first three quarters of the year. The company’s net profit totaled NT$29.13 million (US$910,313), or earnings per share of NT$0.08, in the three quarters ending Sept 30.
The company is ranked the world’s No. 12 solar cell supplier by capacity.
HIGH-EFFICIENCY PREMIUM
“To adapt to the government’s renewable energy policy, we are adding high-efficiency solar cell capacity,” Liao said.
The Bureau of Energy offers a 6 percent price premium for high-efficiency solar cells over standard cells, Liao said, adding that TSEC’s solar cells have received certification from the agency.
TSEC is building new high-efficiency solar cell capacity totaling 450 megawatts, which will account for about 30 percent of the company’s projected total capacity of 1.5 gigawatts per year for next year, Liao said, adding that the new production line is to be completed in February.
TSEC also plans to build a new solar module plant in Taiwan to deal with expected demand in its home market, he said, adding that it is scouting land on which to build the factory, which would have capacity of 1 gigawatt per year.
The company raised NT$1.9 billion through syndicated loans and new share issuances earlier this year to finance the capacity expansion plan, Liao said.
In related news, larger rival Neo Solar Energy Corp (新日光能源) said it plans to initially invest NT$600 million in a joint venture with Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) to invest in solar power plants in Taiwan.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained